How damaging to bleach/dye a chunk?

[Perididdle]

I've always wanted to do something silly with my hair. It's an ashy medium-dark brown naturally, more on the cooler/ashy side, but I henndigo it a range of medium red-brown to darker cherry browns, depending on how the henna turns out. That's as wild as it gets, now. I'd LOVE to bleach a chunk -- just some locks up in the front -- so I could play with real vibrant red, blue, green, etc. dyes while I'm still in college and can get away with it.

What I'm worried about is destroying my hair. I don't mind a little stress that I can stay on top of, but I have a (somewhat irrational) fear of turning it into straw. I'm also worried about never being able to get this chunk back to "normal".

Basically, could I get a little advice regarding how to best go about bleaching and dying hair without ending up with frazzled hair? And am I totally ridiculous for thinking it would be irreversible, or would it just be a matter of working some henna/permanent magic? Would that just kill the hair? Most things outside of the warm brown/red toned world are foreign to me, so...a little hand holding and words from the more experienced would be great!

[TheMechaGinger]

I would dye a piece underneath your hair so you don't notice the regrowth and don't have to dye it as often. A friend of mine just took like a one inch section of hers from the middle of the left side of her hair and bleached it so she has this cute little peekaboo looking streak. Also I've heard oiling before bleaching can help with the damage some. Best of luck to you!

[ravenreed]

Coconut oiling before bleaching can help mitigate some of the damage. If bleaching caused permanent damage to yet ungrown hairs, I would be bald by now. However, I don't think you can bleach henna.

[Perididdle]

Coconut oiling before bleaching can help mitigate some of the damage. If bleaching caused permanent damage to yet ungrown hairs, I would be bald by now. However, I don't think you can bleach henna.

As in, it won't bleach over? Or as in, it'll...smoke and explode, lots of crying, etc.?

[Rivanariko]

I've never hennaed and I basically no experience with it, but I know that there have been a lot of threads about people trying to remove henna with varying amounts of success, but mostly, it seems like it takes a long time and you get a weird, brassy color for a while, is the consensus. It seems that you can't just bleach it to white like you can virgin hair. I know that there are threads about removing henna in the herbal hair care forum. Maybe look for some of those and see if you can find people that have had a higher success rate?

As to bleaching and dying in general, we all know that it's damaging. But there are ways that you can care for it to minimize that damage and still keep your hair in good condition. I know that we have several gorgeous bottle blondes on this forum. I, again, have no practical advice since my hair is all virgin, so I'm pretty much useless lol.

I also want to express my JEALOUSY that you are able to do fun and crazy things with your hair while you're in college. I was on a choir scholarship and was limited to "naturally occurring" hair colors. I would have loved some purple streaks or something wild! Alas, I am resigned to the professional world of natural colored hair.

ETA: Your pony is also adorable :flower:

[WilfredAllen]

I definitely recommend doing a peekaboo steak vs a streak on the top. There's a thread that keeps coming up about successful henna lifting... maybe you could test it out on one strand? If it does get damaged maybe you could trim it and hide it? Or henna/hennindigo over it after you're done with it being colourful. Another option would be trying clip in or weave in extensions if you're unsure. As I recall, they're really cheap at sally's. Bright colour streaks are soooo cute and such a good look!

[ravenreed]

It is just really difficult to remove from what I have read. A few people have managed it, but I imagine the process is hard on the hair, and then to bleach on top of that might too much for most hair to handle. I don't know for certain though. I don't think anyone can tell you definitively one way or the other how your hair will react.


As in, it won't bleach over? Or as in, it'll...smoke and explode, lots of crying, etc.?

[oktobergoud]

Bleaching henna is almost impossible!! I just tried it last week myself (just the ends and with very mild bleach mix) and it did nothing except frying my hair :( And then I remembered that in the past it was always a pain as well. You have to bleach it really long before it turns out a yellowish blonde. Or light orange, more likely. It's really really hard and definitely very damaging!

Last week I only did the last 2 inches of my hair with a really mild mix, but I still ended up with dry, awful ends (I had a micro-trim so now it's better, but I did need a micro-trim!) and NOTHING happened. So please, be careful!

I have removed henna before (see my siggy pic, I used to have henna-ed hair before that platinum white. However, you might notice something else: it's VERY short lol!) but it's a big BIG damaging pain in the bottom. And you use indigo as well? I thought I read somewhere that that also might turn out green?? Not sure though, but please be careful! You can always try a test strand! :)

Just for fun, here's what happened when I tried bleaching my henna-hair for the first time. I just wanted to lighten it a TINY bit to make it a bit more bright, since it was getting very 'brown' and dark. I left it in for about 20 minutes and then looked in the mirror AND THIS HAPPENED: bright neon orange haha! I think this only works when you have short hair though, when it's longer, it's impossible to get lighter, or you just get all kinds of orange :P

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/postalwar/bleekiebleek-1.jpg


LOL

[Perididdle]

Ahhh, yes, now I seem to remember all the warnings from before I went to henna about how it would be around to stay...whoops? ;P Hmmmm, well, boo. I think I'll try out something mild on a peek-a-boo and treat it kindly. Worst case scenario, I have an easily hidden bit to nurse until it grows out.

I don't mind if it comes out orange or even green -- since I'd be going over it with something unnatural, I'd just try to make it a vibrant version of whatever color that is. The main problem is that my hair is so dark naturally, and a tinge darker with henna, that to get a nice color it needs to definitely lighten up. We'll see!


I also want to express my JEALOUSY that you are able to do fun and crazy things with your hair while you're in college. I was on a choir scholarship and was limited to "naturally occurring" hair colors. I would have loved some purple streaks or something wild! Alas, I am resigned to the professional world of natural colored hair.

ETA: Your pony is also adorable :flower:

I'm a film student at a pretty liberal research university in Chicago, so though I'm the opposite of edgy, I can get away with it...luckily! Honestly, I thought dying my hair a slightly red-er brown when I was a freshman was wild, so now that I'm nearing the end of my junior year, I'm still pretty reined in. :cool:

And thank you! He's not mine, exactly, but I love him like he is.

[oktobergoud]

Ah okay! I don't know what kind of unnatural colour you want, but for most (very vibrant) hues you need really blonde hair. Otherwise they just get a kind of mucky colour? Just my two cents! :)

[Raging Wolf]

What about trying some Manic Panic for experimental color change? My neighbors daughter (age 12) wanted to streak her hair and her mom agreed on two conditions that it was under her hair and it was not permanent. She chose a hot pink shade and it looked quite striking in her blonde hair. It faded out in about 28 shampoos and she replied it and went swimming in chlorine pool and it turned it horrid shade of slime green and pink. The down side is that the color wouldn't washout in the shower, they had to go to a professional salon to recolor her hair back to natural color. Now that she has had that experience, she doesn't want to ever color her again.

[meteor]

It sounds like something experimental and something you may need to grow out later. If so, why not just get some extensions of the color(s) you like.
If it's something you want permanently, don't forget to heavily oil with virgin coconut oil a couple hours before bleaching that section.

[Magalo]

I'm gonna go against the flow! :p I bleached the tips of my hennaed hair in January for a ombre look, 15 min at 20 volume, anf it was really light! Yellow, but still very light. Basically you could see the henna, but the color under got bleached. I would go for warm colors though, I think cold colors would look dull because of the yellow from the henna.

[jacqueline101]

I agree coconut oil prior to bleaching. Then I'd use a leave in conditioner afterwards.

[CurlyCurves]

My hair is in great condition and naturally soft. I used pre-lightener on a tiny section at the back and it's a LOT drier than my natural hair, tangles and breaks easily. Damage is usually inevitable, it is a chemical after all.

[AnqeIicDemise]

Coconut oiling before bleaching can help mitigate some of the damage. If bleaching caused permanent damage to yet ungrown hairs, I would be bald by now. However, I don't think you can bleach henna.

You can, actually.. it just won't go blonde. It'll stay very, very red. When I tried going purple and did sections of the underside myself, it all the sections that had henna turned a cola red. So, pink was out of the picture. Red came into focus... and now, look at my avatar.

The red stays nice and vibrant even when I get lazy and don't put more in. It just is less fire engine red and more strawberry blonde. Either way, no one at work realizes this is not intentional. My dip dye looks a little uneven because she got to put some bleach on the virgin length and *that* went blonde so when it starts to fade I have streaks of copper in between the cola. It isn't bad.

ETA: my end still feel soft and are super shiny. Then again I condition the crap out of it at every wash, don't heat style it (except the occasional blow dry) and make sure to oil the ends when hair is damp. You know, the usual stuff. I don't get it bleached more than once a year when the growth is too far down the length. I mostly do deposit-only dies like Special FX and MP (while at the salon I believe it is Pravana)